Spoiler light throughout.
Back in July we were rather impressed with Monsters University, The World's End, the closing chapter of the Cornetto trilogy, was all kinds of awesome fun and The Wolverine was as deep as it was action packed. And then there was Pacific Rim!
Pacific Rim needs to be viewed in a cinema, it is jaw droppingly spectacular. Yes the acting wasn't exactly Shakespear, and it was kind of ludicrous throughout but watching those huge Jaegers and Kaiju battle it out at the multiplex was an experience like no other.
In August we liked The Lone Ranger, it was by far the least annoying Johnny Depp has been in years, it needed a bit of a trim but is a entertaining movie. Kick-Ass 2 was still fun but kicked a little less ass than the first installment.
As much as we loved Elysium we're gonna give it this month to Norfolk's finest, Mr. Alan Partridge:
From introducing "soft rock cocaine enthusiasts, Fleetwood Mac" to "asking, what is the worst monger? Iron, fish, rumour or war?", Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa is undoubtedly the most quotable British film in years, as well as being one of the funniest. It also has possibly the best opening credits scene we've witnessed in years...
September was a bit of a take it or leave it month, at least we felt that way about Riddick, White House Down, R.I.P.D and Runner Runner.
Prisoners was a highlight and worth looking out for if you missed it's cinema run, but for us Rush just took pole position.
Ron Howard's re-creation of the merciless 1970s rivalry between Formula One rivals James Hunt and Niki Lauda was superb. Chris Hemsworth's performance as James Hunt was a real surprise, thankfully a very pleasant one. The camera work was spectacular, and overall we think it was Ron Howard's finest work since Apollo 13. It should be up there for Oscar consideration but it failed to impress US audiences. Shame!
A busy month indeed! Machete Kills unfortunately didn't kill so much. Captain Phillips did. Escape Plan and Ender's Game were somewhere in the middle. Dreamworks finally gave us Turbo, it bombed in the US but we liked it a lot.
But making it two for two is Chris Hemsworth in the Thor sequel. We enjoyed the first Thor movie a lot, but Thor: The Dark World felt like a much better film overall. Possibly in part down to director Alan Taylor, he'd previously been behind the camera for several Game Of Thrones episodes and there where times when this movie had that feel. It was also very good to see more of Asgard, and we enjoyed a barely recognisable Christopher Eccleston as Malekith.
Just like in April, there are two films from this month that would both make our top 5 movies of the year. Gravity is sensational, jaw dropping, simplistic but amazingly satisfying. The kind of film people will study for years to come.
It's almost impossible to compare Gravity with The Hunger Games: Catching Fire as they are such different movies, but we have to, and the latter just narrowly wins for us.
This was our favourite book in the trilogy and the film is arguably the best book-to-movie adaptation that we have ever seen. Surpassing the first movie by a mile in almost every way. It's packed full of action and suspense, along with the mother of all cliffhangers, and Jennifer Lawrence absolutely nailed the part of Katniss.
Three very different films vie for movie of the month
We liked the second Hobbit installment marginally more than the first but we're quite sure that when we watch all three together it will feel a lot more satisfying.So for now that misses out.
Frozen IS a Disney classic. Many of their movies are labelled as such but there is no denying this one lives up to it. It's one of those films that children will be watching for generations to come, something only Disney can achieve.
Anchorman 2, whilst not as essential as the first movie, is still a very funny film. It's not just a rehash of the original, there are some excellent cameos and Will Ferrell and Steve Carrell are at their finest throughout. Some of the comedy is a little uncomfortable, intentionally so though, and quite it's surreal but we loved that. It's our movie for December.
Next time we turn our attention to our favourite tv shows from 2013.
Until then what were you favourite films from 2013? Let us know in the comments below.
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